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Cosmic Wars vs. Star Wars

This thread is not just about The Simpsons/Star Wars references, but as you can see from the title, it is more about inconsistency of the parody (such as Cosmic Wars) existing alongside the object parodied - but we all know that Star Wars does not actually exist in the Simpsons universe. And this is only one of dozens of similar examples that were never explained. So, what do you think about that?

I've always found inconsistencies like this on the show wierd (a couple of others I recall is Mapple/Apple and Zii/Wii). It's as if they cannot decide it's either gonna be the in-show alternate/parody or the real-life thing and it can turn out a bit jarring at times, but it's not really an issue per se.

@CousinMerl - yeah, I don't count it as a problem either, but that's really weird.
It's like the Simpsons live in two separate realities despite the show already has many non-canon episodes for various reasons.

Radioactive man and Classic Era Batman.. Adam west was in the Mr Plow episode.

They then parodied a lot of the classic batman in the Radioactive man episode, i.e. dancing.

and then quite a few years later they had an episode where krusty plays a villain on classic batman.

That's what I was thinking too. And don't forget "Dark Knight Court" episode, in which Mr. Burns takes a liking to the Detective Comics, featuring Batman; and after that he become a crime fighter by himself.

Originally Posted by Dark Homer

My headcanon is that it's just an A Bug's Life/Antz scenario on a larger scale

I find it a little irritating, especially when the "parody" is so thin. "Cosmic Wars" was at least a decent parody of The Phantom Menace (even if it was several years too late), but "Mapple" is just Apple with an "m". So clever. They seem to use the real thing when it's just a small reference, but if it's the whole episode ("Co-Dependents Day", "MyPods and Boomsticks"), they will go with the parody version.

Apart from his appearance as the President in the film, Schwarzenegger is mentioned as somehow existing apart from Wolfcastle in the Springfield universe in "Radioactive Man":

"But, Milhouse, they haven't cured anything! Heart disease and world hunger are still rampant. Those do-gooders are all a bunch a pitiful losers...every last one of them. Want results? You have to go to the Schwarzeneggers, the Stallones, and to a lesser extent, the Van Dammes."

Apart from his appearance as the President in the film, Schwarzenegger is mentioned as somehow existing apart from Wolfcastle in the Springfield universe in "Radioactive Man":

"But, Milhouse, they haven't cured anything! Heart disease and world hunger are still rampant. Those do-gooders are all a bunch a pitiful losers...every last one of them. Want results? You have to go to the Schwarzeneggers, the Stallones, and to a lesser extent, the Van Dammes."

Ditto Mike Tyson appearing on a poster in The Mansion Family despite Drederick Tatum still being a character in the show.